Conventionally, there are known electrically-operated toys that operate using batteries as a power source (e.g., electric car toys that are movable bodies, electric rocking dolls that are non-movable bodies, etc.), some of which use primary batteries such as manganese batteries, alkaline batteries, or button-type mercury batteries as a power source, while others use rechargeable secondary batteries, as represented by nickel-cadmium batteries, as a power source.
However, those electrically-operated toys that use primary batteries as a power source have disadvantages such as that long-term use of the toy requires frequent battery changes; liquid leakage is likely to occur when the toy is left unused for a long period; the weight is relatively large; and especially button-type mercury batteries are prone to accidental swallowing by infants. On the other hand, those using secondary batteries as a power source have disadvantages, in addition to the same disadvantages of likely liquid leakage and heavy weight as with primary batteries, such as that the battery deteriorates and fails to deliver its initial performance as the number of charge cycles increases; in rare cases ignition may result from heat generation of the battery; and it takes a relatively long time to charge the battery. Therefore, there is a growing trend in the field of electrically-operated toys, whose main users are infants, younger school children, etc., toward avoiding the use of batteries as a power source, especially with the objective of securing safety.
Meanwhile, an electrically-operated toy that uses an electric double-layer capacitor (also called a super capacitor) as a power source (see Patent Document 1) is known as an electrically-operated toy that uses no batteries dependent on chemical reaction as a power source.
Patent Document 1, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Publication No. H04-018594 (1992-018594), is an example patent document with a super capacitor.